Suicide not combat takes more lives of US troops in Middle East

Suicide is the main cause of casualties among US troops deployed in the Middle East than death by combat, according to Pentagon statistics.

According the newly-released stats in a USA Today report, US casualties have gone down over the years – something that can be majorly attributed to the bombing campaign initiated in 2014 which limits ground combat exposure.

The major cause behind the suicides can be post-traumatic stress, mental illnesses, multiple deployments or high level of anxiety due to continuing war, the report said.

According to a senior behavioral scientist at Rand Corp, Rajeev Ramchand, it is hard to establish one major fact behind the high rates of suicide. 

He said that it could be due to several factors, adding that the trend of suicide is on the rise among US population as well, the report stated.

The US Army has the highest percentage of suicide among other military services. According to Pentagon’s figures the report stated: “Of the 269 active-duty troops who took their own lives in 2014, 122 were soldiers, or about 28%.”